Gallery Visits 24/1/15

Gallery Visits 24/1/15

Went to the Green Park area to view allergies for the weekend 

Good thing about this area is that there are lots of small little galleries around next to the big Royal Academy of Art so theres plenty to see and a wide range of artwork and style to view. 

As i was approaching the RA, I noticed this. 

The Swastika Sign on the walls of the Tate 

This reminded me of the theme Appropriation and the presentation we had discussing this sign.  

This is a good thing, because of this TOP group exercise we have going, it allows me to use continuously think about it outside of university as well, this means i see more in the outside world.

TOP is more effective to my perspective in the outside world of art as well as my practice more than i know 

Throughout history it has been appropriated and altered in more ways than one 

This was the first Exhibition we saw at the RA 

PACE LONDON

Hiroshi Sugimoto "Still Life" 

This exhibition consists of 13 large format photographs from the artists ongoing series Diorama series executed between 1976 and 2012. 

It didn't have much to do with appropriation nor my stye of practice 

Looking at how people interact with the scale of photographs and where they stand to look at what subject n the photograph.

The Alan Cristea Gallery - Christane Baumgartner " Totentanz"

I saw a little of how i may present my paintings in this exhibition. See how its 5 x 3 

I imagined a presentational layout with my paintings similar to this 

Other smaller galleries i visited on the way, some sold paintings, 

I was looking carefully at the labels 

The reasons for this is because i was planning for our Off Site Exhibitions this term .

I want an exhibition where we will sell our work 

Therfore i was looking at the layouts of the label 

What was needed to be put on 

Castle Galleries - FOX presents the films of MARILYN. The diamond dust collection by Simon Claridge

I walked by and i noticed an exhibition on Marilyn. This linked into appropriation and part of the video that we were making for the symposium. 

Decided to have a look

He used a medium in which i rarely see 

I know that a rendition of Marilyn's song was 'Diamonds are a girls best friend" 

Could this be the reason the artist decided to use Diamond dust as a medium?

Diamond Dust was "Perhaps most famously used by Andy Warhol" 

"Ive always regarded myself as a portrait painter - it's where my passion lies - and for me the screen shots of Marilyn from her Fox movies are the ultimate portrait. It doesn't get any better." - Simon Claridge

Experimentations of Fine Art working

Some of my Work - Experimental practices 

Rice has always been a huge part of my life, firstly because I'm Asian and Chinese people sort of eat rice like EVERY SINGLE MEAL. 

Second, whenever i do have a bowl of rice, my grandfather always tells me to finish off every grain, because each grain was made with hard labour and it would be wrong to waste it. 

Did you know that rice has been around for thousand and thousands of years!

This piece is titled "Patience" 

Each rice is placed vertically in horizontal rows. 

I expressed this concept to a few people and none of them said they would do it, how it takes to much time. I also calculated the grains in this piece, row by row;

23 Rows

2,862 grains of rice Total

You see how some grains are more transparent than others, that is because of the superglue. If i were to do this again and on a bigger scale (this one is A4), I would create a slightly visible image using superglue and its transparent property. 

Here i was simply testing with Ink. I was trying to express the heaviness of Ink. How it can drag you down when viewed in a particular way. 

Have you ever watched the Film Hugo?
There was a saying in which i am finding it hard to remember but it was something like this
" In a watch, there are no bad parts,  every piece is put in there for a purpose. Together they make the watch work. "
This made me think about people on earth. None of us a truly bad, and we all have a purpose. Like the pieces in a watch. No matter how small we are, there is a purpose for our existence.

I made these Illustrations and added in clock parts to them. 

Looks slightly robotic but it was fun to do. 

Outside Drawing - Watercolour 

I have always been fascinated but Fauvism. I guess it has a link into psychology which is another subject that i enjoy. In fauvist paintings, artist uses colours that express and emotion. So the sky may not necessarily be blue or grass may not be green.

It all depends on what the artist feels. Seeing emotion play out through their eyes.  

I wanted to get back into painting as i concentrated on installations and sculptures last year.
I went to Holland Park, which is a beautiful park to be in. (See one of my previous blogs about Holland Park)

I wasn't ready to go all out and set up an easel and chair and paint outside just yet, so i started off with watercolours on A4 paper.
It was fun to get back into drawing, in my opinion, the use of vibrant and non realistic colours create a more interesting visual for the viewers, its not boring or immediately direct. It makes you wonder and most importantly feel.

Artist that have inspired me are such like Andre Derain and Henri Matisse.

Transforming Buildings into Abstract Art

It's funny because these building deigns were probably created inspired by abstract art, such as works of De Stijl. Im using the same process but this time backwards. 

Keith Coventry did something similar where he used images of buildings seen from a birds eye view and transformed them into paintings. 

It may be simple and minimal but the concept is strong. 

Again in this, i used a range of colours, not the same to the ones in the original shot.

Edward Burtynsky's "Water" Exhibition, Absolutely Brilliant!!!

Edward Burtynsky's "Water"

This was one exhibition i desperately wanted to see. 

"When you develop a concept that you want to follow, you move away from the randomness of taking photographs to the idea of making photographs." 

- Edward Burtynsky 

What Burtynsky's work is showing is an investigation into our world's continuous compromised environment. He takes photographs mainly from an aerial perspective which take on a unique abstraction and painterly quality. 

These images focus not on the water itself but on the systems that humans have put in place in order to hardness this element. 

"Colorado River Delta #2, Near San Felipe, Baja, Mexico, 2011" 
Chromogenic Print
Edition 6
122 x 162 cm

Isn't this beautiful? Even more breath taking if it were to be seen for real. I looks like a tree with branches expanding from within. The water is creating all this! The colour of the water contrast with its white surroundings giving the element more focus.

"Glacial Runoff #1, Skeidararsandur, Iceland, 2012"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 3
152 x 203 cm

From a distance the image looks like a pattern, an image split into 3 different colours.
The details collide together making it rather difficult to determine what exactly the subject is at first.

" Greenhouses, Almira Peninsula, Spain, 2010"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 3
152 x 203 cm

The landscape here has been carved into dramatic patchwork patterns. Like we have control over this terrain. Human intervention has led to these rich lands being bled of their natural resources.
Colour combination really appeals to the audiences eye.

"Pivot Irrigation Suburb, South of Yuma, Arizona, USA, 2011"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 12
122 x 162 cm

It makes you think about the different ways we humans interact with our environment.
How we are trying to control them, the outcome of what they can produce for our benefits.

To me, it gives off a sense of alien. Maybe from movies...
The large circles look like radars to me, signals, marks on the ground created by large pieces of technology.

"Pivot irrigation #1, High Plains, Texas Panhandle, USA, 2011"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 12

152 x 203 cm

I really quite like the composition of this image. Its like a framed photograph inside a photograph. 

Rather abstract and really emphasis human activity on land

"Dryland Farming #27, Monegros, Spain #27, 2010" 
Chromogenic Print
Edition 9
99 x 132 cm

You know those long roads in a desert, and it's just endless, a slight comfort of freedom arises inside you.
This is even better. Not only do you see the road, you see what's ahead and around. A clearer more descriptive perspective

The sizes of these photos were a good fit to the space provided for them in the gallery. People could interact with them from different distances, far and close

Well lit, creating more focus on the photographs.

"Rice Terrace #2, Western Yunnan Province, China, 2012"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 6
122 x 162 cm 

This is majestically beautiful, the labour that has been done on the land has overall created a piece of art. Without knowing, this is a good example of Subconscious art.
It has a slight impressionism in it, how it concentrates on the light reflecting off the water surfaces, the orange and yellow colours in the middle give a nice contrast to its surrounding greens.

Inside the gallery, bottom floor, they have a nice little library where you can have a look at current artist and other artist work.
Edward Burtynsky's book is a whopping 75 pounds so if your pocket is low on cash, come and have a look as well as his original work.

The photographs were really well presented, there weren't any air bubbles beneath the image like you see in some photographs.
Details were very clear, minimal noise in the photographs.
A good size, would make a perfect addition to someones collection

In the gallery, consumers were continuously asking about sizes and prices. It is clear that this theme and Burtynsky's work has appealed to the majority of the population

"Xiaolangdi Dam #2, Yellow River, Henan Province, China, 2011"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 6

122 x 162 cm

"Xiaolangdi Dam #3, Yellow River, Henan Province, China, 2011"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 6

122 x 162 cm

Near the end of this show, i thought to myself that most of his images are a more artistic and beautifully shown google maps. Like the crop land ones. 

I am fascinated with his work. People stick with the perspectives that are comfortable with them, but Burtynsky goes beyond this. 

This is my Favourite!!!

"Stepwell #4, Sagar Kund Baori, Bundi, Rajasthan, India, 2010"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 3

152 x 203 cm

It has a story, a purpose, a previous life. 

At the bottom of this well, all you can see is trash thrown about. This is a beautifully constructed piece of architecture and its colouring on the walls tells us an age. 

Reminded me of M.C. Esher's work with the stair illusions. 

Overall this exhibition was one worth travelling to see.